Don Cayo: We need a better way to set pay for senior government officials

Don Cayo, Vancouver Sun columnist06.14.2013

B.C. needs a better system for determining compensation for politicians and senior public servants, and the trade-sensitive nation of Singapore offers an interesting model, according to Sun columnist Don Cayo.

No matter how you view the latest political pay flap — whether you condemn fat salaries for fat cats, or worry that second-class salaries buy second-class leadership — you must admit the current system is a poor way to decide who gets how much when.

Pay raises are timed and sized on the basis of what the party in power thinks it can get away with — in the latest instance a double-digit percentage raise for ministerial chiefs of staff and deputies. This brings the top of their pay scale to a low of $105,000 a year for a minister’s top aide and to $230,000 a year for the premier’s.

But pay levels for senior public servants also become an issue from time to time. And the fuss gets much worse when it comes to deciding what politicians should be paid. If we don’t trust them to exercise what we see as good sense when it comes to the senior people they work closely with, we are unlikely to like what they decide to pay themselves.

Is there a better way? I think there is. And my inspiration comes from, of all odd places, Singapore.

In one important way I confess I’m reluctant to hold up Singapore as a model for our elected leaders to consider for even a moment. The tiny city-state, with a population just a little larger than B.C.’s, pays the highest ministerial salaries in the world — senior ministers may make almost $2.4 million a year, and the prime minister’s salary is set just above $3 million. And the senior ranks of its civil service are proportionately well rewarded.

So, let me say for the record, I’m not advocating numbers anywhere near this ballpark for Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty, let alone for Christy Clark and Mike de Jong and their advisers.

But I still think there’s a worthy lesson in how Singapore reaches those numbers. It uses a formula that’s not subject to continual political tinkering, and the basis is what senior people are paid in the private sector -- which tends to fluctuate with the health of the economy.

This means senior officials’ pay is effectively based on the country’s economic performance — about as good a measure of a government’s worth you’re likely to find. And the pay rates really do go down when the economy stumbles, as well as up when it soars.

Singapore’s benchmark, which is intended to attract the best candidates and deter any temptation for corruption, is set very high. A junior minister’s salary, for example, is 40 per cent less than the average of the country’s top 1,000 wage earners. More senior responsibilities, of course, mean even more money.

I’m not sure what the top 1,000 pay packets in B.C. would average out to, but the The Vancouver Sun’s database of executive compensation in 2010-11 — a year the province was clawing its way back from the global economic recession of 2008 — 217 of them topped $1 million, and the highest totalled more than $23 million. So I’m guessing Singapore’s benchmark would be too rich for most British Columbians to endorse.

But B.C. could set a more acceptable benchmark of its own. This could be a fixed percentage of the province’s industrial wage, or of its average income, or any other measure we choose. And future increases for politicians, political staff and others in senior government roles could be tied to it.

My proposal is in some ways like the case I’ve made in the past to tie minimum wage increases — another politically sensitive pay issue that’s only ever dealt with in a politically opportunistic way — to the cost of living. In both cases, the idea is to create a framework for business-like decision making, not for manipulation, spin and/or popularity contests.

If the government really wanted to be transparent and above board about it, it could set up a citizens’ assembly kind of process, then ask the public in a referendum. This could be used to determine both an appropriate benchmark and the formula for determining pay rates based on it.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

Don Cayo: We need a better way to set pay for senior government officials

Video

Business Videos

Best of Postmedia

Millennials, amirite? They’re nothing but Instagram-happy, emoji-LOL-ing, mannequin-challenging navelgazers. Or so the theory goes. How can they put their pants on one leg at a time, like everyone else, when they’re sausaged into skinny jeans? Yet when it comes to […]

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, ‘Come and see.’ And I saw, and behold a white elephant, and he that sat upon him had a crown, which he wore atop his fiery hair, and […]

An Ottawa judge has thrown out a romance fraud case that has taken more than four years to go to trial, ruling that the excessive delay has robbed the accused man of his right to a fair trial. Ontario Superior Court Justice Kevin Phillips on Friday stayed the case against Kevin Bishop of Ottawa, who had […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.